Death Wish
by dragonfire7654321
Summary: Two years into the war and Draco has been found innocent of any wrong doing and his parents freed from the dark mark. They go into hiding during his 5th year but reappear during his 7th when the when the process of rebuilding takes place. Draco tries to get back into a pattern with his friends but some find it hard to forgive.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Death Wish

Summary: Two years into the war and Draco has been found innocent of any wrong doing and his parents freed from the dark mark. They go into hiding during his 5th year but reappear during his 7th when the war is at its peak. Draco tries to get back into a pattern with his friends but some find it hard to forgive.

Warnings: Flashbacks, mentions of torture and experiments.

* * *

"Draco Malfoy is innocent." The judge bellowed loudly over the cheers that erupted in the courtroom. Her gavel pounded thunderously against her desk, shocking the patrons of the courthouse and drawing their attention back to her as she repeated her decision.

The spectators roared with applause, but to 17-year-old Draco Malfoy, going for so long without the slightest hint of sound made her decision seem all the more hollow to him. For more than a year, he was held captive by a maniac, bound in a dungeon and experimented. He was rescued by the ministry, only to be put on house arrest.

Now he was just overwhelmed with emotion. He was almost free, most of the bastards had been captured and sentenced, but the leader was still on the run and until he was caught, he was still under watch.

Tears slid down his pale cheeks, but he hardly noticed, stunned by the judge's decision. He did however tense up at the band of arms coming around his slender waist. He recognized them as the same ones that comforted him for the past month. He turned in them. He buried his face in the owner's chest.

Hermione Granger tightened her grip on the frail body in her arms, malnourished and weak, shivering uncontrollably, as she stroked his blonde hair, so long and unkempt. "It's okay, Draco," she whispered into his ear.

The sound of the gavel being pounded against her desk had them turning to face the judge again, and she smiled gently at Draco. "It's almost over; you're being released into your godfather's custody, though I can't say the same for your parents. Their trial is set for four months from now. Court is dismissed."

Hermione grabbed their things while thanking the lawyers Snape had hired. "Come on, Draco." The walk outside the courthouse felt infinitely long as Hermione helped Draco down the steps and over to Snape, who left moments earlier, and he hugged his godson.

"Welcome back, Draco," he whispered, but the moment was short-lived. Soon they faced the flashes of cameras, desperate to take a shot of the now partially freed heir. "Nosey Bastards," she mumbled under her breath.

Hermione tried her best to shield Draco from the vultures, covering him with her jacket as Snape apparated Draco to their temporary housing, set up by the Ministry, followed shortly after by a heavily breathing Hermione.

"Oh thank, Merlin," she muttered, fanning herself with her hand. After she'd threatened the reporters with castration, she was sure she wouldn't have to deal with them for a while. "How is he?" She asked, following Snape into the main bedroom, where he laid Draco on the king size bed. He eased off his too big robes that were hanging loosely off his body. They gasped at the sight.

Draco's body was thin, his ribs showing and his skin pasty, looking to be falling of his bones. Hermione bit her lip in horror. Even though she too had undergone similar treatment in those bastards' custody, she hadn't expected his wounds to be this bad.

He was a nasty shade of pale; being kept inside a dungeon for over a year without any sunlight had taken a toll on him. Running a hand down the side of his thin arm, Hermione thought back to that fateful day when she was rescued by Draco, it was partially her fault that he was this way. "

"Draco, I swear, I'll stay by your side through this."

* * *

_Flashback_

"Draco?" Hermione squinted through her bruised eye at the approaching figure with familiar platinum blonde hair. He looked at her, eyes wide in surprise, stopping in front of the metal cell. He kneeled to get a better look inside. "Is that you, Malfoy?"

It was dark inside the cell; the only light came from a small window in the corner and Draco hesitated to get closer. "Granger, is that you?" He asked, as Hermione lay propped up against the wall. Her arms were tied above her head and her legs were spread wide. Her clothes were ripped in various places and dark purple bruises littered her neck, arms, legs and face. It looked like she got into a fight with a were-cat and lost...badly.

Hermione's left eye was swollen badly and he winced seeing the damage done to his former classmate.

"When they called me down here to heal a prisoner's wounds I didn't expect you. I didn't think I'd see you again, especially like this," he said. He stood up, the ankles chain clanked loudly against the floor as he moved to unlock the cell. Hermione attempted to laugh and ended up hacking. To Draco the sound was horrifying.

"Sorry." Draco gave her a confused look. He reached into his pocket, taking out a small silver key. He unlocked the cell door and picked up the tray, shutting the door behind him. Lighting his candle, he held it up to her face to survey the rest of the damage and whistled. They did a number on her.

"Using muggle supplies, you sure have changed Malfoy," she said, noticing the wraps and alcohol he held in his hand. He shrugged, wiping the marks on her face. "I don't recognize the magic you're using. It's new, isn't it?" He didn't respond and Hermione flinched as he applied more alcohol to her face.

"Yes, they took my wand when I came here and I woke up with this 'gift'." He said, demonstrating his glowing hand and he held it to her face before it disappeared.

"They experimented on you?" she asked, but Draco ignored her, his eyes fixated on her chest.

" Is it that bad?" She asked when he turns to look at her once again and un-wrapped the blood soaked bandage from her chest. Draco chose not to comment, not knowing how she would react to it.

"Where are we, exactly?" She asked, feeling dizzy though that could be from the loss of blood.

Hermione yelped again as his glowing hand drifted lower and stopped just above her breast. She heard him gasp and pull back; she bit her lip to stop herself from looking down. Knowing whatever it was, it must have been bad to shock him.

"I have no idea Granger; like you, I woke up here." Draco removed his hand and replaced it with the wrap.

Hermione held her breath once he started only to end up screaming the remainder of it. Draco grabbed the empty tray and opened the cell. He looked back at her on the floor, he said, "Don't even think about escaping. They took your wand when you were first brought in." He shut and locked the cell leaving Hermione alone once again, to think about her predicament.

She didn't have long to dwell on it for after Draco left and darkness descended into the small cramped space. Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and she closed her eyes, evening out her breathing as they ended outside her cell. Hermione could heard someone talking, bits of the conversation, and from the parts she did hear, it sounded angry,

"-her."

"-lord she was the only one there."

"-one blonde."

"-cell."

It was the last she heard of them talking as they disappeared down the hall and she heard the distinct sound of another cell door opening, shuffling footsteps, a bang and finally a scream. She tried to keep her eyes open but was unable; she drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

_End flashback_

* * *

Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the broken boy on the bed, her heart melted and her hands clenched the sheets tightly. She took a deep breath and took hold of his hands as Snape attempted to heal some of the damage done, Draco writhing in pain in his unconscious state.

Once Snape left the room to give them some privacy, he squeezed her shoulder as he passed, looking his former student in the eye. "He's going to be okay," he said, answering her silent question. It took them eight hours, eight long, torturous hours to undo most of the damage done to Draco and with each passing minute the scars that once marred his skin were became a faint memory. The marks were gone but what was left in their place was smooth pale skin. Even though unmarred, it was an unhealthy shade. At least that could be cured with a few hours in the sunlight.

Hermione sat at Draco's bedside through the night. She even linked her fingers through his sometime after they began the healing. It was a rough night but he made it through, only waking up long enough to take a calming drought for his nightmares.

"Who would have imagined I would be here with you," she said aloud. "Not me, that's for sure."

"I wonder what's taking Harry and Ron so long," Hermione frowned; mentioning her childhood best friends brought back some unfavourable memories but she pushed them aside. She hadn't seen them since 'that' night, yet since being rescued all her correspondence to them went unanswered. She couldn't help but wonder that in spite of their reassurance to be there, if they were mad at her because of what happened.

"We sure got ourselves into it, but was it worth it Draco?" She questioned, staring at the unconscious boy on the bed. She didn't expect an answer to come when she felt a light squeeze on her hand. She tensed before squeezing back gently and she knew despite being out of it, Draco was listening.

"We'll get through this, with or without their help."

To be continued...

* * *

Authors Note: I want to thank my beta Estoma for helping me with this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

_Flashback_

_A crack in the wall was leaking water on the floor…Drip…Drip…Drip _

Hermione stared blankly at the opening of her cell. Her arms had long since fallen asleep in their place, tied tightly against the wall above her head. The blood long stopped circulating from within them, leaving her with a slight stinging sensation that disappeared with the numbness.

She had little sense of time; there was only a small window in the cell, through which she could tell the sun had set. It had been a rough few hours and she didn't dare try to fall asleep, worried about what would become of her if she did.

She wondered for how long they planned to keep her here. She hadn't seen Dra-Malfoy since earlier that day and despite knowing of the rough condition she was in, she wondered if he would come back.

She dwelled on this, and thoughts of how she had found herself inside the cell in the first place. She heard the sound of metal clanking against the floor near her cell. Hermione glanced up and looked directly into Draco's heavy eyes.

Once again, he wore a floor length, tattered nightshirt, chains clanking around his ankle and a tray was clutched in his bandaged hands. "I brought your dinner and your medicine."

He set down his tray to unlock her arms from their prison and gently lifted her by her waist. He was careful of her wounds and helped her on to the spare gray cot in the darkest corner of the room. Hermione bit her lip as the bandages around her chest and back were removed and she would finally get to see damage that was done to her. The brunette didn't have the energy to lift her head to do so and released a startled squeak when she realized she couldn't move her body at all.

"W-why," she managed to ask.

"The nature of your injuries is better left unknown to you for now," came his tired response. Hermione couldn't bring herself to argue with him and so remained quiet as Draco fumbled about with his tray.

"Brace yourself Granger, this may hurt a bit."

She didn't bother to ask just exactly _what _would hurt and clenched her teeth together, using what little feeling that had returned in her hands to tighten her hold on the cot as he leaned over her.

It felt like fire attacked her body all at once. Hermione screamed, tears leaking down her face. It lasted only a few minutes and her bandages were applied, but Hermione had yet to stop her screaming or loosen her hold on the cot.

"G-Granger, Hermione, relax," Draco told her, gripping her shoulders gently so as not to agitate her injuries. She stopped screaming and all but threw herself into his frail chest, making him flinch in pain and crawled on his lap, crying hysterically while he stroked her matted hair in a somewhat soothing way.

They stayed in that place until she calmed and eased herself back on the cot. Draco ignored her, he couldn't bring himself to get close for fear they were being watched, as he fixed the food on his tray. "Malfoy, no. Draco," she said, waiting until he turned around with her tray to finish her sentence. "Thank you."

He handed her a plate of bread, potato and a cup of water. She suffered another coughing fit before eating. They said nothing; the noise of plastic eating utensils the only thing keeping the cell from becoming completely silent, that and the sound of heavy footsteps making themselves known and they stared at the opening of the cell.

Two burly men looked back at them. "He's in here, Bob. Come with us," said the taller of the two men. Draco pondered this for a moment; go with these men and possibly meet the person who brought them both here or stay and be forced, physically to move which in his condition wasn't a good idea. He didn't have long to think about it.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day." Draco held his tongue, exited the cell, keeping his head down as they went. He watched his bare feet drag along the rough crushed rock that paved the prison walkway. His 'master' had called for his head captive to be brought to his room and Draco had a sick thought about what it was about.

"Stop."

He looked up as they came to a stop at the end of a large, deeply carpeted hallway. A large brown door was in front of him. The guard unlocked the door, and they stepped inside the scarcely decorate room. A bed, desk, closet and a lamp were the only things in the room. That is until he took a look at the small glass window, beside it, a back was turned to him.

"Boss, we brought him."

"That will be all. Leave." They bowed low and backed out of the room, the door slamming shut with a thunderous crack, leaving him along with the mysterious person. He was wearing a black cloak and held a glass of what looked to be red wine in his hands.

The man turned around, his face still hidden. Draco watched him carefully, he didn't look dangerous but Draco made that mistake in judgment before, in fact that mistake was what got him into this mess in the first place.

_End Flashback_

* * *

Hermione yawned tiredly from next to Draco's bed. She couldn't remember the last time she was able to sleep comfortably in a bed of her own. Throughout the night, she kept him company through the nightmares that plagued his sleep. Now Draco had settled, but had somehow managed to knock away his blanket and was lying on his side. He was facing away from her, and it bothered her that she could not see his face.

Not fully awake, the brunette gently arranged Draco so that he was now lying on his back and not agitating his injuries. After a few minutes passed of watching his chest rise and fall slowly, Hermione fell asleep, waiting for the moment when large blue eyes would be able to greet her.

Hermione awoke to professor Snape standing over her in just a robe. "Wash up and come to the living room." He told her. Ten minutes later, Hermione found Snape sitting in the living room, his eyes were closed and hanging over tired black bags. He held his head in his hands, black hair falling over his shoulder not appearing to notice her.

While waiting for Draco to be discharged from ministry custody, she learned of how Snape had taken a break from teaching at Hogwarts to help prepare for Draco's release. Dumbledore had understood, but still was reluctant to let him go. He was their biggest asset in the fight against you know who.

"Professor?" She asked, hesitating in approaching him. He looked at her, standing by the door and ushered her over so she stood by him.

"I've talked to Dumbledore, we have until the end of the week to return."

Hermione could barely hold back her surprise at that. "But Professor, that's too soon. Draco's been through a lot and is still recovering. What if something happens?

"Trust me Granger; I've thought about that myself." He looked out the window, up at the dark clouds gathering in the sky." It would be wise to wait until he completely recovers, but I don't believe we'll have time."

"What do you mean?"

"We're in the open," he said, stepping away from the window. "Draco's at risk the longer we stay here." He turned around and Hermione saw worry in his charcoal eyes. "Pack your things; we'll leave at the end of the week."

Not knowing what else to say, Hermione bid him goodnight.

* * *

Authors Note: Thanks to my beta for working so diligently with me for this.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

The next day, Hermione had a feeling something would be off today. Her hunch was correct as she entered the kitchen to find Snape sipping a cup of tea; he used his wand to stir some sugar into it.

"Have you heard anything back yet from Potter and Weasley?" he asked her.

"They haven't owl'd Mrs Weasley and I worry about what this all could mean?" She responded. Even though she worried about her friends, she couldn't bear to communicate directly in case she lost control of her emotions again

_Like the last time she spoke with them._

"It's not over yet," he said quietly, drawing her attention back to the conversation at hand. Her body shook, but she wouldn't let him see what had become of her during that period of captivity. _She didn't want to ever relive that._

"Professor Snape, you couldn't mean that-"

"I don't know," he said. "More people are being killed and taken than before and the attacks are increasing. It seems that the men are becoming bolder in looking for Draco."

"Nor only that, but Narcissa is missing. Dumbledore thinks that she was taken by those bastards. There trying to use her to draw Draco out into the open and then attack.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked, fiddling with her hands in front of her.

"Nothing," he replied continuing before she could blow up at him. " We can do nothing for now. We have to move Draco, they are getting closer to this area now as we spoke. It will take them at least a week to reach us here."

"I have a meeting with Dumbledore to discuss the best possible way to move without drawing attention to ourselves. The experiments they performed on him has made it ten times harder to hide his trail and its taking a lot of magic to hold him here."

"Alright, Professor and what about Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Dumbledore has teams out searching for her, but our main focus is on Draco. Narcissa can hold her on against whatever they have planned for her."

"In the meantime Granger, see what you can find about the experiments that Draco underwent. I have a feeling that may be why Draco is being targeted."

"Okay."

* * *

_Flashback_

_If there were two things Draco hated in this world, they would be bugs, disgusting little buggers and confinement. Draco looked around the room he was in and remembered that he was tied down to a bed. He panicked and rightfully so, who knows what those freaks were planning to do to him next. He wasn't sticking around to find out._

_ A few hours ago, all he felt was the constant effects of spell after spell being used on him. Rats, large ones, been released and were allowed to feast on skin, leaving bites and scratches all over his skin until in his shock and pain, a magical force unlike any he had seen before came rushing out of him. It fried the creatures and exhausted him. The scientist did it numerous times, each time more creatures than before and it wouldn't stop until finally he couldn't stand it anymore and it exploded of out him. It nearly killed everything, and knocked the scientist off their feet._

_Draco tried to calm his beating heart that to him sounded like it was amplified. He licked his lips, trying to draw moisture to them and his dry mouth. All his screaming had made his voice raw. He lay there, strapped to the weird bed with a look of contemplation on his face._

_His captors had left with no signs that they would be returning to release him anytime soon. He gritted his teeth and tested his wrist against the metal chain, painfully aware of it digging into his skin._

_It was strong and he would probably dislocate something trying to break away from the bed. That was the last thing he needed._

_Unsure, what to do, he looked around desperate for anything that could be of help to him. He exhaled deeply said as it came to him. He lifted his body partially off the table and hooked his right hand around the chains that held his left one. It glowed for a second before splinting the wood and sending a few splinters to fly at his face._

_It smacked against his face."Bugger." That would leave a mark, not that he needed anymore added to his skin._

_Draco sat up slowly, the room spinning around him. It took a few minutes for his senses to calm down and he slipped off the bed, well aware that he wasn't wearing anything and his bare body was on display for anyone who came into the room._

_Draco grabbed the sheet he had been laying on and tore it so that he could wrap it around his chest. He tied around the front so it looked like was wearing a long robe. He then proceeded toward the hallway with shaky steps. He hadn't made it too far and he was already exhausted, his legs were shaking trying to keep him up and his hair was dripping with sweat._

_He stumbled forward and as he did, he heard the quick and loud blasting of the alarm system. "Alert, Alert, Prisoner 7320 has escaped. Find him."_

_"Hell," he muttered and started to walk again. He heard the panic of footsteps around him, but paid it no mind. If he could make it back to his cell, they wouldn't chase him down there because it was off limits without his master's permission._

_Draco started as he heard a loud ear splitting noise from behind him. He tried to move, but his body held no more strength and he fell to the floor. He felt himself being lifted by his legs and back. He was being carried somewhere._

_"Where are they taking me?" was his last conscious thought and he faded to black._

_End Flashback_

* * *

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

Draco could tell when they were finished with him, that they weren't taking him back to his cell. Overcome with exhaustion, he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to notice where he would end up. One moment he was being carried, the next he was falling and his world slowly went black.

Draco opened his eyes in his new setting and looked around confused. His entire body ached and his arms felt like they were on fire; he desperately wanted to scratch them. He reached down to do just that and his hand came in contact with a hard surface and he looked down. His arms were both wrapped in white casts.

"W-What?" he was unable to voice his thoughts.

"So, you're awake?" Draco looked to his left at the voice and found Hermione sitting by the opposite wall looking at him. She looked tired, with large bags underneath her eyes and she was holding onto her leg. _Has she been awake all this time?_

"What am I doing here?"

"Those creeps brought you a few hours ago."

"That's weird, why would they bring me to your cell?" he wondered, trying to sit up. Hermione watched him struggle for a few minutes and Draco huffed, slamming backwards onto the cot once he gave up.

"Do you want my help?" She asked him, though knowing Malfoy's stubborn personality she wouldn't be surprised if he said no. After watching him struggle a bit more, Hermione figured he was ignoring her offer of help.

"C-could you help me sit up?"

Surprised, Hermione couldn't believe it, but she went to help him anyway.

She held his waist and pushed him forward so he was sitting up and then helped him lean against the back wall.

"Malfoy, I know you probably don't want to answer this." He looked up at her in confusion. "How did you end up down here?"

* * *

_Flashback_

_It all started when he received, out of the blue, an owl from his mother inquiring about his whereabouts, which in itself wasn't suspicious. _

_However, since his decision to refuse the dark mark, Draco has been careful to hide his trail as best he could. His father and You-Know-Who had been on his tail_, ma_king it unsafe for him to stay anywhere for a long period of time. _

_His mother was the only one who knew of his decision to refuse the dark mark, but only because of his insistence for her not to blab. If it had been her choice, she would have run to the light side and told them just to make sure he would no longer have to live in fear. _

_She would have told his godfather as well if Draco hadn't stopped her in time. Even so, she never asked about his whereabouts, knowing he wouldn't reveal them._

_It was only in her love for him that she did this. He remembered her telling him that the day he decided to run. The only reason Draco kept up with her correspondence was because if he didn't, not only would she tell anyone who would listen about his decision, it would put her in great risk if she came out of hiding._

_Draco stared at the letter, reading over each dark word questionably. Narcissa had a particular way of writing that screamed pure blood that made it all the more suspicious. _

_Why was she asking for his whereabouts? _

_She knew he couldn't tell for fear of their correspondence being intercepted?_

_"Incendio," he whispered, waiting to see if it would light up in orange and red flames, only it didn't, lighting up blood-red instead. Fear took over his body at once; You-Know-Who had written him a letter, but how? He was sure he managed to hide his signature magic trail from everyone._

_"Mother." He had to find out. Hesitating with this decision, he knew he had to return to Malfoy Manor if only to reassure himself that she was alright._

_Once he entered Malfoy Manor Draco knew something was wrong when their house elf didn't immediately come to greet him. Glancing around the large living space, he took out his wand and braced himself for any surprises that may come his way._

_"Stupefy," a soft voice whispered and Draco turned in the nick of time to see a green light heading toward him and quickly dodged to the right. "Come out, whoever you are."_

_"Stupefy," came another one, only louder this time. Draco turned, albeit slower than before and was unable to avoid a direct hit. It pierced him right in the chest and he fell backwards unable to move while light footsteps moved in his direction._

"and that's how I ended up here," he said, looking even more exhausted than before he started his story. They stayed in another briefly complete silence." Granger, you know I ended up here. Now how about you tell me how you ended up down here?"

End Flashback

* * *

_Dumbledore's Office_

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Snape slammed his hands on top of Dumbledore's desk, fire-spitting out of his eyes in his anger. "I thought you had teams out searching for her."

"How could you fools lose her and how did they find her? She was supposed to be in the Ministry's custody."

"Calm down, we'll find her. In the meantime, we'll increase our surveillance over Lucius to prevent a similar incident."

"You mean he wasn't taken?" Snape couldn't hold back his surprise at this.

"Strangely enough, they avoided him completely and focused solely on Narcissa." There it was; that damn know it all twinkle in the fool's eyes again.

"Don't worry, Draco is well protected," Snape rolled his eyes.

"If he was so well protected, he wouldn't have been taken in the first place."

"True, that was my fault for not keeping a closer eye on the Malfoy's. Next time we won't hesitate to act."

"Let's hope there won't be a next time."

Snape then apparated back to the house that he shared with his students and his guard went up.

_Did something happen while I was away?_

He took his wand, and immediately checked in on Draco. He was still asleep so nothing strange there, but then he noticed something off. _Where was Granger? She didn't leave the house did she?_

A loud knock at the door startled him and he walked over to it. He clutched his wand tightly and opened the door.

As the figures on the other side became clearer, he raised his wand to point at them.

"P-Professor."

"What are you doing here?"

"D-Dumbledore sent us here. He told us you were in need of our help." was the response.

Not known for rolling his eyes, Snape did just that, but he stepped off to the side and allowed them entrance. _Dumbledore better have a good reason for sending them to me._

* * *

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

Snape sneered at the two unwanted outsiders. Figured Dumbledore would bring them into the plan. He could only hope that they wouldn't bring any unfortunate incidents since bad luck seemed to follow them. He considered leaving them out there, but for the fact that they were unfortunately expected and shuffled them inside.

He stared at the large figures of the two almost men standing in front of him. They had grown since they last time he's seen them and filled out and Snape gave each an acknowledged nod at their approved wardrobe. They were tall, both easily towering over Snape's 5ft 9 frame, Harry with an even 6ft 1, the red-head, Weasley topped off at 6ft 3.

"Pro-" Snape stopped Ron before he could finish his sentence and ushered them to lower their voices.

"Before we begin, let's make one thing clear," he started. "No one, but you two, myself, Hermione, and Dumbledore know that he is here and we want it to remain that way until the time Draco will be moved again." He gave them a once over, making sure they understood.

"Wait, Hermione is here?" Ron asked, loudly and was shushed again.

"Yes, but she is busy at the moment."

Just as he finished his sentence, light footsteps could be heard walking in their direction as Hermione made herself known. "Um Professor, I finished pa-" Hermione stopped, staring with wide eyes at the two newcomers. She couldn't move and her mouth wouldn't open no matter how much she urged it to so she forced a smile to stay on her face.

"Potter, Weasley, please step into the den and I'll be there shortly to discuss the plan."

"I'm sorry professor; I don't know what came over me to freeze up like that."

"Granger, did something happen between the three of you that I need to know about?"

"N-." Before she could complete her sentence however, Snape interrupted. "Let me remind you, we are on a limited time mission. If you know of anything that will impair it, tell me."

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them again, she saw Snape standing there patiently, waiting and she told him. "Do you remember how I told you of Draco rescuing me from that horrible place."

When he nodded in affirmation, she continued. "Well, how I got there in the first place was Ron and Harry's idea."

When Snape saw her struggling to continue, he said." Granger, I'll spare you of telling me the details. But I want to remind you that if they hadn't we would have never found Draco in that dungeon."

"Professor, are you saying I should forgive them?"

"I'm not one for meddling in my students' affairs Granger. Though I will say that our primary concern is moving Draco and to remember what's really important at the moment."

"Right, Professor," she mumbled, distractedly, as he left to find Harry and Ron. "If only it was that easy to forgive them."

* * *

Snape entered the den and found Ron and Harry sitting by the closed window, talking quietly. He cleared his throat as he approached them, and they immediately stood up.

"How is Draco, Professor?" Harry asked him once he got closer to them.

Snape kept his eyes on the closed window and the clouds quickly forming in the night sky. "He's doing well, he's regained a lot of his color and his body is recovering from the injuries inflicted upon it."

Hermione entered the room, but paid them no mind as she went about moving things and putting them away for the move.

Ron nodded, noticing Hermione. "-and what about you, Hermione? How are you doing?"

"Fine."

"Is that it?" Harry pressed for her to continue. "Isn't there anything else you want to say?"

"Why?" She questioned him back.

"It's been a while since we've last seen you."Harry responded.

She gave a bitter laugh at that. "I'm sorry and that's my fault. Is that what you want me to say?"

"No!" Ron screamed, frustrated, he ran a hand through his thick red strands. "It wasn't anyone's fault, we just-"

"What do you mean it wasn't anybody's fault, it was your fault? You did that to me and I still have the scars to prove it."

"Hermione, we're so sorry for that. We thought it would work, but it didn't and we lost you and so many others because of it."

"Well great for you. Its not the first time one of your brilliant ideas failed," she clapped sarcastically. "Did you expect me to say something else?" She tapped her chin with her finger, eyeing the two younger teens in anger. "Something like 'I'm great' or that I missed you or something or have you both forgotten what you did to me?"

They flinched at her anger, despite it being well deserved, "Hermione, we are so sorry for that."

"We wanted to go after you, but people were being attacked and we couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves." Harry pleaded for his best friend to understand.

"But, you left me. You abandoned me in that place and for six months, I thought I was going to die there from the things they put me through," her eyes started to tear up and she swiped at them angrily.

"What you did hurt me deeply," she started after calming down a bit. "But, I'm willing to put it aside for now until this is finished." She started to walk away, when Ron placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to stop her and she tensed, quickly moving away from him and she tried to leave.

"Mione, please don't walk away. W-we want to make this right," They begged.

Hermione kept her back to them and released a shaky breath. "For Draco's sake and only for his sake. Will I try to be civil and that's all I'm willing to do for now."

Ron was about to object to that when Harry placed a strong hand on his shoulder to hold him back. "We accept that Mio-Hermione."

Though not completely happy Ron agreed, knowing it would take more than a few apologetic words for Hermione to forgive them, but they would do it. They would wait however long she wanted them to. They would do anything to get their best friend's trust back.


End file.
